GA: Chapter 189: The Power of Thunder — Lost and Regained. The Five Elements Armors Merge Into the Imperial Armor?
"ROARRR—"
A dragon's cry rang through heaven and earth. From within the enormous crimson vortex of clouds, a phantom flame dragon descended with a thunderous roar, piercing through the Bureau's structure and landing directly upon Qin Tian as he absorbed the Dragon Pearl's power.
At the same moment, blue-violet lightning blazed across the sky.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Bolt after bolt struck Qin Tian's body as if crossing through space itself, enveloping his form in blue-violet radiance.
"ROARRR—"
The dragon cry sounded again. This time, a draconic phantom slowly materialized across Qin Tian's forehead.
It appeared to be formed of crimson flame — yet faintly suffused with violet light.
"Roarr..."
Under that commanding cry, Qin Tian noticed that the Dragon Pearl, which had still held nearly a quarter of its energy, suddenly began pouring that energy into his body at a frenzied pace. Not only did the total volume of spiritual energy within him surge — his physical constitution began rapidly advancing as well.
And beyond that — the lightning he had lost control over ever since his ability underwent its second awakening and transformed into the Flame Dragon suddenly returned.
He now possessed the power of thunder once more, alongside the power of fire.
Both were forces of pure, absolute destruction — yet lightning carried a speed and penetrating quality that fire simply could not match.
"...Ha."
Qin Tian exhaled slowly. He had fully absorbed everything the dragon pearl had contained.
Unfortunately, without a clear system of cultivation realms and no established cultivation method, he couldn't determine exactly how far his strength had risen.
What he was confident of: if he encountered the mutated giant octopus again — or any mutated creature at a comparable level — he could slay it faster than when he, Chen Bing, Huo Yu, and even the mutated killer whale had all fought it together.
Though in the ocean, he'd still need someone to cut off its escape.
"With strength like this... can I protect Huaxia now?"
Qin Tian looked at his own palm and spoke quietly.
A long pause. Then he shook his head.
"Still a long way to go."
He had previously assumed the dragon that Ning Guang had encountered — the one that had successfully crossed its tribulation — was roughly at his level. But after absorbing the Dragon Pearl, he understood clearly that the creature's power had surpassed his former self.
If it hadn't been critically weakened by the tribulation, and if it hadn't happened to encounter first-tier Ning Guang — it would never have become the natural treasure it did. Once it had recovered from its injuries and fully digested its own true dragon power — no one in all of Huaxia except Bai Xuan would have been able to stand against it.
And who could guarantee that Huaxia didn't currently have creatures of that caliber hidden somewhere?
This much still wasn't enough.
He had to grow stronger still.
"First — go out and hunt. Get used to this power. And the lightning."
"Besides, I haven't eaten for so long. I'm actually a bit hungry."
Qin Tian rose from the training room and stepped out, exchanged a few words with the Bureau members on his way, mounted the Flame Dragon Steed, and flew outward toward the wilderness.
He didn't notice that a phantom flame dragon had materialized around the Flame Dragon Steed, visible from a distance — looking for all the world like a crimson dragon soaring through the sky.
"Holy—! What is that?!"
A passerby on the road below stared up and blurted it out.
"A dragon, obviously. What else would it be."
"That has to be the Dragon Emperor heading out on a mission. Just finished training and already called back to work — that man works too hard."
The person beside them shook their head sympathetically.
"Are you sure it's a mission? I haven't heard about anything happening."
"What do you mean? What about Modu?"
"Oh, fair point."
"Anyway, talk later — we need to take pictures NOW!"
The two of them immediately pulled out their phones and aimed at the crimson dragon cutting through the sky, snapping away.
Only once the phantom had faded from view did they lower their phones with a satisfied expression.
Though the White Emperor was the most powerful of the four, he was rarely seen in public. The Dragon Emperor was Huaxia's guardian — their guardian — and naturally the one they felt closest to.
The Flame Dragon Armor transformation, with all its visual splendor — what man could possibly resist?
Many people who had never heard of Armor Hero before went and watched the show specifically because of Qin Tian receiving the Flame Dragon Armor's acknowledgment.
Their first reaction after finishing: The Imperial Armor — an eternal god.
The Flame Dragon? Honestly didn't ring much of a bell.
But with no Imperial Armor appearing in reality yet, the Flame Dragon was still extremely cool.
It was a shame the Flame Dragon Armor had chosen Qin Tian — they had no chance of getting it for themselves.
Besides the Flame Dragon Armor, the only other one the public knew about was the Snow Lion Armor — the video of the White Emperor slaying the white serpent and handing the Snow Lion Armor summoner to a small boy had never stopped circulating online.
According to official statements, the other three armors had apparently not yet selected their hosts. At least, no one had been found.
If anyone received an armor's acknowledgment, they were encouraged to contact the Spiritual Energy Bureau — joining would come with exceptional treatment.
People genuinely looked forward to the day when all five Elements Armor hosts appeared and fought together.
If they could combine, like the tokusatsu shows, into the Imperial Armor at the end — then no matter what enemy appeared, there would be nothing to fear.
"Dragon Emperor is genuinely impressive — but if you're asking who I like best, it's still the Ice Emperor."
One of the two slipped their phone back into their pocket and said it casually.
"You call that just liking? I didn't want to be the one to point it out."
The other gave them a look of pointed judgment.
"What? Don't tell me you have zero feelings either."
"Of course I don't — I simply think the Ice Emperor is very aesthetically pleasing, has an exceptionally cool temperament, and is remarkably powerful. Nothing beyond that whatsoever."
He said it with complete seriousness.
"So last time in the livestream comments when you wrote 'Ice Emperor please step on me, I'm Ice Emperor's loyal dog' — a ghost typed that?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
It wasn't just the two of them. Chen Bing — the Ice Emperor — existed in many people's hearts as the dream ideal, and not only for men. Many women felt the same way.
With those looks, that power, and that cold and unreachable temperament — who could see her and remain unaffected?
As for Huo Yu — the Flame Emperor — she was no less than the Ice Emperor in appearance or ability. But that particular cold and distant quality was something the Flame Emperor simply couldn't match.
Though saying all this was probably meaningless. Whether Ice Emperor or Flame Emperor — they were existences the ordinary person could only watch from a distance.
Since his destination was the mutated creature zone at the city's outer edge, Qin Tian kept his speed moderate.
Huaxia's cities, guarded by Qin Tian and the others alongside the Spiritual Energy Bureau, were in relatively little danger now — safe, all things considered.
But outside the cities was an entirely different world.
The spiritual revival had reshaped the Earth entirely. Before, there had never been enough green — people had always called for more development. Now there was so much it was almost frightening.
Every area beyond the cities was, for the vast majority of humans, a forbidden zone.
Because there, in numbers no one had fully counted, the mutated creatures made their home.